Completed NRP 73 research project: Interaction of economy and ecology in Swiss farms

Agriculture in Switzerland and in other countries is facing growing calls to improve environmental compatibility. At the same time, the sector’s economic efficiency is low, a situation that is particularly reflected in the earnings of the members of farming families, which are significantly lower than comparable average incomes in the secondary and tertiary sectors. The project shows that Swiss agricultural production can be both environmentally compatible and economically efficient. Food production, economic efficiency and environmental compatibility are not mutually exclusive. However, there are product group-dependent differences.

The primary drivers of the differences between the individual product groups are the production region (valley, hilly or mountainous terrain) and production method (organic farming or proof of best environmental practice). Thus, for example, environmental efficiency was highest on valley terrain. In terms of production system, organic farming is slightly more environmentally efficient than proof of best environmental practice in all areas except cereals.

The study shows that there is considerable potential for improving the environmental and economic efficiency of Swiss agriculture. The wide variability in the results, particularly in the milk, beef and potatoes product groups, indicates that there is potential for optimisation. There is no evidence that improving environmental efficiency has a negative impact on economic efficiency and vice versa.

 

More information:

More information about the research project

 

Current publications:

Pedolin, Dario; Six, Johan; Nemecek, Thomas (2021). Assessing between and within Product Group Variance of Environmental Efficiency of Swiss Agriculture Using Life Cycle Assessment and Data Envelopment Analysis. In Agronomy, 11(9), 1862–1862.

Stucki, Matthias; Jattke, Marleen; Berr, Marcus; Desing, Harald; Green, Ashley; Hellweg, Stefanie; Laurenti, Rafael; Meglin, Ronny; Muir, Karen; Pedolin, Dario; Shinde, Rhythima; Welz, Tobias; Keller, Regula Lisa (2021). How life cycle–based science and practice support the transition towards a sustainable economy. In The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 26(5), 1062–1069.

 

Contact:

Dr. Thomas Nemecek
Life Cycle Assessment research group, Agroscope

+41 58 468 72 54
thomas.nemecek@agroscope.admin.ch